This is the 2nd upload of Chapter 20 – no plot differences, I just re-read it and realised there were some mistakes!
Disclaimer: yes, I am the genius who came up with the idea of both Quantum Leap and Stargate!!!! What? You don't believe me? Curses, foiled again...
Reviewers: the treat of the day is a bar of Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate with Orange and Spices. That stuff is pure heaven, and a single nibble has more intense chocolatey-ness that a whole kilo of Dairy Milk (I kid you not). I think it may even have cured me of Double Decker cravings!!
Superfan – thank you! And you know what, I only discovered that lil 'anonymous reviews' checkbox by accident – trust me, excluding them was not intentional. I spent most of the last year leaving reviews without signing in... maybe I was just dumb enough to tick that box back when I first registered :(
P.S. I've got my storyline almost completely planned out now, and it's a long one. So much for an easy start to my fanfic career! Hope you stick along for the ride anyway :)
P.P.S. I have just rediscovered Mozilla – why did I ever neglect to download it on my last computer??? Wonderful, wonderful browser, especially with all the tabs so I don't clog up my taskbar. Go forth and try it out!
Colorado Springs – 20th September 1998
Sam Carter's POV
Sam cracked her neck awkwardly and glanced at her teammates. They all seemed engrossed in watching the end of Star Wars: Teal'c bowing respectfully as the 'ghosts' of dead Jedi appeared, Daniel watching the Ewoks like they were a real culture he might meet someday, and Jack – damn it! – Colonel O'Neill with a silly grin on his face. That guy really was a sucker for happy endings. No matter how hard she tried though, that so-called popcorn machine kept bouncing its way back into her mind and she could not concentrate on what should be a relaxing night out. The sight of a real popcorn machine in the lobby had sent her thoughts straight back to her lab and that gadget that was a riddle that she was still unable to solve. In her mind the task was nearing the slippery slope from intriguing to exasperating, especially now that it threatened to ruin a fun evening. Maybe she would try taking it behind the Stargate tomorrow, as the translation seemed to suggest... but no, General Hammond had forbidden that.
"Sam?"
She looked around quickly, snapping out of her frustrated reverie. "Huh?"
"The movie's ended," Daniel pointed out, his eyes twinkling.
Maybe he thought she'd fallen asleep or something, or perhaps he found it funny that an astrophysicist would zone out so completely during a movie about space. Personally she still found it weird that Darth Vader sounded so like a Goa'uld... that and she had other things on her mind. She glanced toward the screen, realising that the place was almost empty and the credits were scrolling their way through innumerable electricians and camera operatives.
"Oh yeh," was her lame response, accompanied by a grin.
She looked to her right and saw that Teal'c and the Colonel had already left their seats. Well, Teal'c had but Jack – Colonel O'Neill! – had been in his wheelchair the whole time. Jeez it was hard dealing with a team that felt like family, calling two out of the three by their first name (in Teal'c's case, his only name), and having to remember that the third should be addressed by rank regardless of how close they all were. She honestly felt like she had two big brothers and a younger... though if it wasn't for the military...
Sam grasped the arms of her chair firmly and pushed herself upwards and out of the seat with as much force as she could muster, slamming the unruly thoughts into the back of her mind as she did so. They could only cause problems, and she knew it. Though it was fun to tease him sometimes, as she had earlier in the evening. At Janet's suggestion, she'd put the fold-up wheelchair in the trunk of her Volvo before leaving the base to pick up the Colonel (that was better). It was supposed to be 'just in case', but in a fit of giggles she'd decided to bring it up to the porch steps when she rang the doorbell. Of course she'd expected a reaction, but his sheepish acceptance and 'yeh, good idea Carter' had not been what she'd imagined. Maybe he'd accidentally stood on the ankle a couple of times – again – but either way, he'd taken to it gracefully.
Moving to the aisle, with Daniel right behind her, she rolled her eyes as she saw Teal'c and an usher struggling to get a fully laden wheelchair down the stairs.
"Oh Lord," Daniel muttered, pushing his way past her. "Jack! What are you doing?"
"Giving this young man a valuable lesson in customer service, Daniel – what do you think?" the Colonel responded, his tone firm. "I paid good money to see this movie, and yet I couldn't see over the counter when I bought my popcorn, I had to stumble my way up these stairs very painfully, and I had to sit in the aisle! If I needed to go to the little boys' room I probably wouldn't be able to get through the door!"
"Jack," Daniel's tone was almost like that of a disapproving parent.
"Don't you Jack me, Danny – I'm in enough trouble with the good Dr Fraiser as it is," the other man asserted, his eyes now turning to the usher. "I don't think that anyone would want me to fall down these stairs and cause an even worse injury now, would they?"
"N-n-n-no, sir," the young lad replied falteringly. "And I apologise that our, um, facilities are not adequate for your needs, sir. We do have a service lift, but it's... um..."
"Broken? Figures!" The invalid sounded more like a dictator by the second. "Look kid, give me a few days and I'll be walking again – provided I can get out of here without breaking my neck of course – but what about all the other people in this city who can't handle stairs too well? Like the elderly, or Vietnam vets with missing limbs?"
"S-s-s-sir?"
"Jesus, do I really have to explain this?! Ok kid, do you have a grandmother?"
There was a mumble that could have been a yes.
"Yes? Right, how old is she?"
"78 this year, sir..."
"78? Hey Murray, that's pretty good, huh?"
"Indeed it is, O'Neill," Teal'c intoned, though he was at least a couple of decades older than that himself.
"Hehe," the man in the wheelchair chuckled before returning to the topic of conversation. "Now with all these steps here, do you think that your gran could make it into this movie theatre?"
"But she doesn't –"
"Answer the question!"
"No, sir – but she doesn't come here anyway."
"And why do you think that is kid? I know you have a 'Gone With The Wind' matinee this weekend – posters in the foyer – so chances are it's not because she doesn't like the movies, now is it? No? Ok, so why might it be that your gran doesn't come to this movie theatre?"
"Er... because of the stairs?"
"And does she ever use a wheelchair?"
"No sir..."
"Why not?"
"Because she wouldn't be able to see over the counter?"
"Give the boy a bonus!" The Colonel crowed.
Sam's body shook with barely controlled laughter. The kid looked like he was dealing with a complex mathematical equation and fumbling under the weight of the wheelchair at the same time, even though Teal'c was taking most of the weight without breaking a sweat, and Daniel! Daniel had one hand on his hip and the other was slapped against his forehead in apparent dismay. She could almost hear the muttering from here, but had to concede that the Colonel was right – though she still breathed a sigh of relief when the trio reached the bottom of the stairs safely.
"Ok, so now that we're back on terra firma, what are you going to do kid?"
"Erm... get the cleaning crew together to tidy up the movie theatre."
Sam groaned audibly. That was not the answer that Colonel O'Neill would have been waiting for. She started making her way down the stairs... just in case...
"Kid, that badge you're wearing says 'Assistant Manager', and frankly I'd expect you to have more brains than this," the Colonel asserted coldly. "You need to get your act together and sort this place out. People with disabilities can be valuable customers, plus it's illegal to make it difficult to get into a place like this. I know, I know – there is a lift, but it's broken. Fix it!"
The kid just stood there, and as Sam drew closer she decided that enough was enough. She glanced at the Colonel, whose expression was not quite as hostile as his words and voice had suggested. "Sir?"
His head swung round, brown eyes fixing their gaze on her. "Yes, Carter?"
"Shall we head to O'Malleys now?" The promise of steaks should bring him round.
"Good idea Captain," he replied, smiling conspiratorially. Yes, that was Jack all right – Colonel O'Neill! – winding people up to get his point across. Or maybe it had been the other way round this time, with his own indignation leading into the point-making process. Either way, he seemed to be done with his little lecture now – though the poor lad at whom it had been directed was now suffering under the scrutiny of Teal'c.
"Erm, Murray?"
"Yes, CaptainCarter?"
"Shall we?"
The big Jaffa nodded slowly and began to push Colonel O'Neill's wheelchair out of the foyer and onto the street, while Sam turned to Daniel and waved in his face. "Hello, anyone in there?"
The archaeologist blinked, then smirked. "I was just thinking."
"Oh yeh? About what?" She replied as they headed out the main doors together and followed the other pair towards O'Malleys.
"How weird it was that Jack just made me think, I mean really think."
"In what way?" This was an interesting turn. They were good friends – best friends, when it came down to it – but more often than not it would be Daniel making the Colonel re-evaluate his thoughts, not the other way round. Either that or agreeing to disagree.
"Well I guess I never really considered why older people don't like wheelchairs," he explained, his expression quietly guilty. "Most of the time its like they don't want to accept that it might be time to take it easy and let something else take the load, but now I'm wondering whether it's because they know that a wheelchair would make life hard in other ways."
Sam could only nod. "To be honest, it's getting better than it was." At Daniel's questioning glance she shrugged. "I'm an Air Force brat, remember? I used to meet plenty of vets without arms or legs, deaf from ordnance exploding too close, that sort of thing. All good people who were unlucky and paying the price. Some of them were more desperate to stay in the Air Force than take a pension, because that way they still felt useful."
As if to prove her point, she and Daniel finally caught up with the Colonel and Teal'c at the entrance to O'Malleys, where the former was muttering quietly.
"What's the matter, sir?" The door was definitely wide enough for a wheelchair, so what was the problem, she wondered.
"I can get in, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to move around or sit down easily, Carter," the Colonel explained. "Take a look inside."
Looking though the windows, his meaning became clear. There were several tables where he should be able to sit easily, but all were full – even on a weeknight this was a popular joint. The only available seating appeared to be at the booths on the far wall, but getting there would involve manoeuvring through the already crowded table area. That wouldn't be easy, even if he did switch to crutches.
Sam glanced around and saw a waitress taking an order near the main door, all smiles and laughter with her clients. She quickly slipped through the door and plucked the girl's sleeve as soon as she was free.
"Hi – you wouldn't know how long the wait would be for one of these tables would you?" She phrased the question as cheerily and politely as she could, guessing that her entourage of three frustrated males might be shooting evil looks in the poor girl's direction. "It's just my friend there can't get through... and we are regular customers," Sam finished, spotting a bartender who she'd beaten at pool one night and giving him a casual wave.
As she'd hoped, the waitress looked over her shoulder and saw the return grin. Gestures of recognition were far more convincing than name-dropping, but as the girl faced her once again her expression was apologetic.
"I'm really sorry, ma'am, but I don't think any of these tables will become free for at least a half hour. Are you sure your friend couldn't sit in a booth?"
"Oh it's not sitting in a booth that would be a problem – just getting him there," Sam explained, wondering whether the girl realised just how tightly the floor was packed – all in the name of profit, of course. Then again, perhaps this diversion from O'Malleys could improve the night out – at least for her own purposes. "But I don't think we'll be able to wait quite that long. Thanks anyway!"
She walked briskly back to the rest of the team and took hold of the handles of Colonel O'Neill's wheelchair, spinning him round and heading back in the direction of her car.
"Sam?"
"Wha?"
"What is the matter, CaptainCarter?"
It was almost funny that only the alien among them could form a complete sentence.
"Guys, they're packed and will be for a fair while yet. It's gone 2130 and I'm starving, so unless popcorn has gotten more nutritious over the years that should make you three officially dying of hunger," she quipped, a plan forming in her mind. "But who needs O'Malleys anyway? We can have a late summer barbeque back at my place – how's that?"
"There's only one real question to answer that suggestion, Sam," Daniel pointed out, gesturing silently toward the Colonel's oblivious back with a lopsided grin. "How well do you cook steaks and is there any beer in the house?"
Sam returned the grin, knowing full well that Daniel had hit the nail on the head – wheelchair or no, Jack O'Neill would be wanting his favourite food groups. "We would need to pick up food on the way, but as far as beer goes I don't think we'll be needing any. It is a school night after all, plus the Colonel here is on painkillers. Not a good mixture!" she finished, teasingly.
"Good point, Carter," came the Colonel's voice from the chair. "But you never answered the part about actually cooking the steaks."
Shocked, Sam nearly tripped over a pavestone and stopped dead for a moment, fumbling in her pocket for her car keys to cover her reaction. Just when she thought everything was back to normal, out came another uncharacteristic response. She shared a look with Daniel and stammered a response.
"Um, well I thought I could leave that to you guys – you know, fire, raw meat, isn't that supposed to be male territory?"
"I would be happy to oblige, CaptainCarter," Teal'c offered, though she thought she detected a suspicious undercurrent in his deep voice. Maybe she was jumping at nothing though. "Although I would prefer a fruit beverage rather than diet soda."
"Yeh, me too – I can pretend it's got vodka in it."
Sam felt her shoulders relax with relief as Jack – ok, one... two... three... Colonel O'Neill! – made a break for normality. She was jumping at nothing, far too often for her liking. Maybe just didn't like the fact that the team was going to be split up the next day, particularly while their leader was essentially convalescing. The importance of maintaining the chain of command had been ingrained into her psyche from an early age after all.
"Um, any special beverage for you tonight Daniel," she asked the archaeologist, smiling sheepishly as she took in just how badly she'd over-reacted.
The archaeologist winked his sympathy and made to open the passenger side door. "Anything with caffeine Sam, so diet Coke would be fine. Hey, what's wrong with this door?"
"They didn't make cars with central locking in 1961, dummy," Sam laughed, joined by Daniel and the Colonel after a moment's embarrassment. Only Teal'c remained silent, tilting his head as if to say "these Tau'ri are very strange". "Don't worry Teal'c – I think Daniel's gotten so used to seeing ancient relics off-world that he's forgotten that I still drive one."
The big Jaffa nodded his newfound understanding, eyes twinkling. "As you say, CaptainCarter, however I do believe that the phrase 'they no longer make things as they once did' may also be appropriate."
"Damned right, Murray!" Colonel O'Neill chimed in. "Us old windbags have to stick together, right?"
Daniel rolled his eyes, and Sam had to giggle.
"Are we going to get any food before midnight, or are we going to stand here in the car park until the sun comes up?" The archaeologist – and youngest member of the group – grumbled.
"Yes, let's get cracking," Sam nodded, unlocking the passenger door and pulling it open. "Ok – Colonel O'Neill in the front, wheelchair in the trunk and you two in the back. Stat!"
"Yes Ma'am," the Colonel mock saluted, pushing himself up and out of his wheelchair, and making his way into the car with the aid of Teal'c. None of them missed the expression of pain on his face. "Good thing you brought this thing, Carter – I'd be shot away by now if I was on crutches."
"It was Janet's idea, sir," Sam acknowledged softly. "Y'know, maybe we should go to your place instead of mine? It'd save you moving around more than necessary."
She expected the Colonel's eyes to turn hard at that turn of logic, and they did – he hated being the weak one, and all of them knew it – but his recent trip into the car must have made him more open to such suggestions.
"Yeh, all right," he agreed reluctantly, earning a stifled cough from Daniel in the back seat. "But only if you let me have some jello and ice cream, ok Mom?"
"Jello would be... nice," Teal'c commented from the trunk, where he was loading the wheelchair.
It was Sam's turn to roll her eyes. "Ok, so we'll head to the Colonel's house via Wal-Mart and pick up steaks, fruit juice, diet cola and jello – which might actually be ready to eat before midnight if we get a move on." She ignored the yelp of protest from the passenger seat as she climbed in. "Dare I ask if you have anything to go with steaks in your house, sir?"
"Um..."
"I was there the other day Sam, there's only the usual take-out boxes," Daniel called from behind her. She could almost hear his shudder, knowing that despite the chaos of his office he was a tidy freak when it came to food, probably a legacy of his early years on isolated campsites. Exposed perishables wouldn't last long out there.
Sam put the car into gear and set about the business of driving, concentrating on the road as hard as she could while the Colonel and Daniel... bickered. The last thing she needed now was this prime selection of the male species acting as backseat drivers, let alone 'helping' her shop. Her decision was made within moments of pulling into the Wal-Mart car park.
"Daniel," she asked sweetly, trying not to let her frustration shine through. "Would you mind staying here with the Colonel for a short while? There's no point in getting the wheelchair out for such a short trip –"which it would be, if they stayed behind. "– and Teal'c and I can handle it, ok?"
"Ok," the young man mumbled, though the Colonel raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You and Teal'c here only, eh? Anything going on that we should know about? Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more?" he hinted playfully. Could he tell that she was bordering on pissed, she wondered, because if so he was going about this the wrong way.
"No, sir – I just don't like shopping by committee," she replied pointedly, while a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that this man was her superior officer. "Play nicely with the other children!"
And with that she near-slammed the door shut and stalked towards the main entrance, wondering why she was letting them get to her. This was meant to be a relaxing night out, maybe even a team bonding session!
"Are you well, CaptainCarter?" The voice of Teal'c rumbled like thunder in the distance, accompanied by the clatter of a trolley.
She nodded, a wry grin on her face. "Don't worry about me, erm... Murray – I just don't know how to deal with those two when they get like this."
"I believe the phrase is 'sit back and enjoy the show'?" Teal'c smiled philosophically. "We must be thankful for these times of peace, when comrades may spend time together without fear of attack."
"You're right, of course," Sam realised, suddenly thinking that her inner turmoil could be more to do with that damned popcorn machine. She decided that there was no way that she was going to let this get her down and the pair of them made quick work of the food shopping. Steaks were on special too, so they even bought an extra few to put in the Colonel's freezer – though it was doubtful that they'd ever be able to coax him out of his ready-meal ways.
Before long the gang was all back in the car, winding their way towards Jack's house. While Daniel got Jack – the Colonel – up into the house and settled in the living room, Teal'c took charge of the barbeque and Sam put some frozen fries in the oven.
"Frozen?" Daniel asked, a slight whine in his voice.
"It's nearly 10pm – do you want to peel potatoes at this hour?" Sam commented, a tone of warning in her voice.
"Erm, no. Good point," he agreed quickly. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Sure – you can chop these onions and mushrooms for Teal'c," she grinned, glad to have one more task off her plate. Maybe she could shift the rest too, after organising the evening's meal and getting them to the 'venue'. "You can even fry these eggs in a while if you want to make yourself really useful."
"Uh, sure Sam – what will you do?"
"Put my feet up!" She laughed, seeing his expression. "Don't worry I'll do drinks and keep the invalid over there company. Is that ok by you?"
Daniel smiled easily. "Yeh sure, I was getting bored of him already."
After opening a few cupboard doors she located the glasses and took out a selection, plus a handy bowl for making jello. Meanwhile Daniel set about his chopping, and the pair of them could hear Teal'c singing something in tune with the sizzling of the barbeque.
"A traditional cooking song from Chulak?" Sam asked as she handed him a glass of apple juice.
Teal'c coughed with apparent... embarrassment? Why was that, she wondered.
"In a way, CaptainCarter," he answered eventually. "It is a song for children, teaching them that fire is dangerous."
"Ah."
"Indeed."
Laughing softly, Sam finally made her way into the living room and flumped onto a couch.
"Having fun, Carter?" There was a trace of laughter in the Colonel's voice as he turned down the volume of the TV.
"Not as much as Daniel," she replied with a grin. "How's your ankle, sir?"
"Mm... ask me again in the morning, ok? I think it's gone on vacation and left an inflexible lead weight in its place," he quipped. "I was trying to distract myself with the National Geographic channel."
"Oh – what's on?" She glanced at the screen. "Is that the Bell X-2? Broke Mach 3 back in the 50s? It is, isn't it? My dad always said he would have loved to have been one of those pilots, but he was still going through the Academy at the time though. It must have been awesome, being at the front of technology like that."
"It was terrifying," the Colonel mumbled.
No, she must have heard wrong. He would have barely been in kindergarten back then.
"Sir?"
The man on the couch shook himself, as if waking up from a dream. "I, erm, met one of the pilots a few years ago. Tom Stratton. One of the pilots who, um, survived. He... he said it was terrifying."
"A bit like being the first person through the Stargate, huh?"
"Uh... yeh."
Sam was getting uncomfortable vibes from him now, his eyes glued to the image of the test plane being dropped from its carrier, and figured that he wasn't kidding about the pain from his ankle. "Would you like a foot massage, sir?"
"Huh?"
That certainly woke him up. Maybe it was a little over the limits of their normal CO-2IC relationship... but what the hell. "Well I obviously can't touch your ankle, but the foot must be hurting a little too – even if it's just stiff from not being used all day."
The Colonel seemed to ponder this for a moment, and she could see him wiggling his toes experimentally. He grinned, and she realised that he really did have a nice smile when he wasn't in a sarcastic mood – which was almost all the time.
"You're right. Ok – I'd be very grateful, if you don't mind the smell of course. That's pure cheese down there."
"I know – I've slept next to them often enough off-world," Sam laughed, moving over to sit next to him and pulling a sock off. "This is the right one isn't it? Phew! Your name may be Irish, but your feet are French!"
"Hey!"
"I can smell the stink from here!" Daniel's voice drifted in from the kitchen. "Get it over with before you spoil our appetites!"
The pair in the living room laughed. "Ok, ok."
Sam took care to avoid the tender ankle and worked her fingers into the stiff muscles of the foot itself. Her patient groaned with appreciation several times – and winced a few more, if truth be told – but overall it seemed to be a valuable exercise. He certainly wouldn't be able to walk straight away, but Janet had told her often enough that massage was a real tool in holistic medicine, one that far too many doctors overlooked. She'd admitted that she rarely used it herself, but that was more due to the degree of injuries that were presented in the SGC's infirmary.
Eventually the sock went back on and Sam headed into the kitchen to wash her hands, finding Daniel and Teal'c ready to bring the food through.
"Finally!" She exclaimed, eyes smiling and stomach growling to match. "Oops, sorry guys – I didn't mean that you took too long, just that it's been a long time since lunch."
"We understand, CaptainCarter," Teal'c commented as he placed one fried egg on each steak under the direction of self-proclaimed head chef Daniel Jackson.
"I'll get knives and forks, ok?"
"Mmm," the two men responded, engrossed in their culinary masterpiece.
Sam grabbed the required cutlery from the drawer and headed into the dining room, double-taking as she realised that there were steps between the dining and living rooms.
"Sir? Are you going to be ok coming up here?"
"Sure thing Carter, just give me a shoulder to lean on ok? I have to get up there sometime, else I won't make it to bed tonight."
For a strong-willed, independent man he was certainly taking this well, she thought, then realised that this should be taken as a blessing rather than a strange surprise.
"Ok sir," she called as she set the last place. "I'll bring your crutches in as well, ok?"
"Sure thing, Carter."
And so it was that SG1 came to be sitting in Colonel O'Neill's dining room, having late-night steak, egg and fries, sharing stories and reminiscing until midnight – when Sam suddenly heard the clock strike twelve and looked at her watch in shock.
"Is that really the time?!"
She interrupted Teal'c in mid-flow – he, Jack and Daniel had been debating the origins of martial arts on Earth (probably the first time that the Colonel had really joined in the conversation all night) – then clamped her lips shut as she realised how squeaky she'd sounded.
"Why, are you about to turn into a pumpkin, Carter?"
"No, sir," she replied laughing. "Look, it's been a really great evening, but I have to be up early – General Hammond will give me what for if I sleep through our meeting."
By the look on the three men's faces – or on Daniel's and Colonel O'Neill's anyway, since Teal'c remained as stoic as ever – her reminder of work had brought them all back to reality. In only a few hours, two of them would be on another planet... and back at the base there were at least two major mysteries that needed solving: the popcorn machine, and who broke into Daniel's office.
"That was a fantastic meal though, guys, thank you to the chefs!" the Colonel announced, slapping his belly appreciatively.
"And thank you for the jello, Sam," Daniel replied cheekily. "Never let it be said that you can't cook."
"Ha ha," she stuck her tongue out playfully. "Well I don't think I'll be able to eat another thing before tomorrow night after all that..."
"Who're you trying to kid, Sam? You hardly ever make it into the commissary as it is!"
"Hey! Do you want a lift home or not, Mr Coffee And Power Bars Will Get Me Through Anything?"
"Shall we do the washing up?" Teal'c enquired politely, his eyes quietly laughing.
The Colonel grimaced. "No need, but it would be great if you could load the dishwasher. I don't think I could handle standing by the sink for too long."
"Yeh we know, Jack – that's why you live out of pizza boxes!" Daniel crowed, standing up and gathering plates. "You just stay right there, o high and mighty leader – we'll leave the house just as we found it... only a little tidier. Ok?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Uh-huh."
Sam sat back in her chair trying not to giggle too much – her stomach was full and starting to hurt as it was. They would only be gone for a couple of days, but she was going to miss Teal'c and... Jack.
"Are you going to be alright to drive in tomorrow morning, sir?" she decided to ask.
He nodded. "I managed on the way home – it's an automatic, so wasn't too hard." His hand came up like a Boy Scout salute. "I solemnly swear that I will either call you or Daniel, or a taxi, if my ankle hurts too much though, how's that?"
"Don't leave it too late if that's the case, I think we're all heading in early tomorrow," Daniel commented, coming back into the dining room with Teal'c.
"Ok," the Colonel acknowledged. "Teal'c, are you heading all the way back to the base tonight?"
"No, O'Neill, I am not – DanielJackson has kindly offered me the use of his spare room," the Jaffa replied in that calm way of his. "However we would be grateful for a lift to his apartment, CaptainCarter."
"Fine thing – are you ready?"
"Yes."
"We are."
"Ok then, let's ride." Sam turned to the Colonel. "Don't to see Janet before you head off in the morning sir," she reminded him.
"And the wheelchair is in the back of your truck, Jack," Daniel pointed out.
The Colonel held up his hands in surrender. "With well-meaning friends like you, who needs doctors, really? Now get out of here!"
A chorus of laughter followed the trio out of the door, while their CO limped slowly behind on crutches. Sam hated to see him this way, but she knew that it was temporary and he had the next few days to recover. It had been a very good night though, she thought contentedly as she put the car in gear, reminded the 'kids' to buckle up and waved goodbye.
NB. I have never been to a cinema in the US, but I saw the opportunity to launch into a disability rights tirade, hehe. Somehow it seemed like something that both Jack and Sam Beckett might do in this situation...
Also, no offence meant to any French readers – this was an oblique reference to wondrous cheeses like Pont L'Eveque yum yum which most people think smells like boots that haven't been washed for 10 years.